Multicultural Competency and Working with Diversity

Assignment 1: Discussion—Multicultural Competency and Working with Diversity

Those who work in the field of psychology must develop multicultural competency. Multicultural competency is the ability to take into account issues such as ethnicity, race, culture, as well as the ability to adjust one’s behavior accordingly when helping others. A related term, diversity, refers to the ability to adjust according to other factors, including gender, age, sexual orientation, and disability.

In other words, one should not be blind to the ways that cultural factors and diversity influence clients’ needs, goals, values, and behavior. One needs to adjust one’s behavior and the client’s treatment goals to fit each client’s unique identity.

The first step in achieving increased multicultural competency and ability to work effectively with a diverse clientele is to know your own biases. Most people are unaware of their prejudicial attitudes or beliefs. Those in the helping professions tend to be more open and empathic to those who are different from them in general. However, everyone has ingrained biases and prejudicial attitudes or beliefs to some degree.

Project Implicit is an ongoing research study being conducted online to study unconscious biases against those who are different. You can take tests designed to measure any bias you have related to religion, gender, sexuality, disability, specific races, age, or weight (Harvard University, 2011).

Begin this assignment by reviewing the following link:

    Harvard University. (2011). Project implicit. Retrieved from https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

After agreeing to the terms of the study, proceed to the list of tests available and complete as many as possible. Even if you have completed any of these tests in the past, do retake them as scores can change over time, particularly if you have become more sensitive to issues related to diversity.

After completing the tests, respond to the following:

    List the tests you completed.

    Explain the ways in which you were surprised by any of the results. Be sure to include at least two examples.

    Describe your thoughts and feelings after reading your results.

    Explain what you can do to diminish any biases you may have. Cite at least one peer-reviewed, academic source to justify your answer.

    Explain how bias toward clients of a different culture, race, or gender affects work with those clients. Is treatment hindered by that bias? Cite at least one peer-reviewed, academic source to justify your answer.

    Describe a challenging situation you have observed or encountered at your field experience site that involved issues related to multicultural competence or diversity. How did you handle the situation? What would you do differently?

Write your initial response in approximately 350 words. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.